The route of light

You can have the most intense experience of the Light Festival if you go through all the stops of the Route Light.

After sunset, visitors will be amazed by the building projections and site-specific light works of domestic and foreign artists in the cozy streets and squares of Pécs, in the city's galleries, and in the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter. Those interested can meet light works based on analog and digital techniques, as well as static and interactive light installations.

The works in public spaces can be visited for free, but those who don't want to miss a light experience can look forward to the special locations of Light Festival MAX, which can be visited with the purchase of a wristband.

The Route of Light: More Than 30 Stops at the Boundary of Imagination 

At the heart of the festival lies the Route of Light, guiding visitors through 15 downtown locations and 19 venues around the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, where they can discover the works of both Hungarian and international light artists. 

This year, the Zsolnay Quarter and the Kodály Centre will serve as the festival’s main experience hub, as the entire area is going to be part of the Light Festival Max programme. These venues, which can be visited with a pre-purchased wristband, host the festival’s most exciting installations, where interactive and immersive artworks offer such depth of experience that they can easily fill an entire evening. 

A Meeting of Soul and Light at the Kodály Centre: The Latvian team, Those Guys Lighting brings Divine Geometry to Pécs – an installation built around 24 lasers and accompanied by a unique 30-minute sound experience. This essential light journey is so deeply moving that apparently, at previous presentations, many visitors were brought to tears by its overwhelming emotional impact. 

In the Lab building of the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, visitors can walk through a waterfall woven from light by means of Spanish artist Marc Vilanova’s installation, while in the E78 Concert Hall, the Playmodes collective team creates dynamic, floating light sculptures using laser beams and robotic mirrors. In the Pyrogranite Courtyard of the Zsolnay Quarter, a large-scale installation transforms Vasarely’s Op Art legacy into three-dimensional installations. This constantly shifting geometric illusion changes with the viewer’s movement, inviting active participation through motion and discovery. 

A unique exhibition makes its debut within the walls of the m21 Gallery: Hommage à Vasarely by Light, a light art exhibition that marks a milestone in the festival’s history. For the first time, the festival expands beyond its four-day programme into a full summer exhibition, allowing visitors to experience this extraordinary visual journey at any time until the end of August. Besides, the young emerging artists of the Light Art Colony will also present their works in the Zsolnay Quarter. 

The iconic downtown venues of Pécs are also going to be transformed. At the Cella Septichora Visitor Centre, a pulsating creature of light trapped inside a glass cube will struggle to escape, like a digital organism fighting for freedom. Széchenyi Square will be surrounded by a monumental circular panoramic light projection, while the festival’s beloved totem creature, the Pixel Bug, will return to Jókai Square. Inside ÁRKÁD Pécs Shopping Centre, technology and nature meet as the memory of water comes to life on a giant LED wall. 

At Színház Square, New York-style visual psychedelia will come to life: the American Liquid Light Lab revives the world of 1970s analogue light shows, combining Kandinsky’s visual musicality with the atmosphere of concerts by Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and early Pink Floyd. The "Route of Light" station at Színház Square is part of the USA250 commemorations.

The key projection technology partner of the Route of Light is EPSON Hungary.